Separating and folding apparatus for printing presses



P 14, 1965 G. E. HANTSCHO 3,206,191

SEPARATING AND FOLDING APPARATUS FOR PRINTING PRESSES Filed April 12, 1963 9 Sheets-Sheet 1 UPPER A a pse Mac/n INVENTOR. 5504 5: E. him/750m Sept- 14, 1965 a. E. HANTSCHO 3,206,191

SEPARATING AND FOLDING APPARATUS FOR PRINTING PRESSES Filed April 12, 1963 9 Sheets-Sheet 2 772 Q 4% INVENTOR.

P 4, 1965 G. E. HANTSCHO 3,206,191

SEPARATING AND FOLDING APPARATUS FOR PRINTING PRESSES 9 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 12, 1963 Sept. 14, 1965 G. E. HANTSCHO SEPARATING AND FOLDING APPARATUS FOR PRINTING PRESSES 9 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 12, 1963 INVENTOR. 52w? g5 :7 #4 7-5 0/0 s. E. HANTSCHO 3,206,191

SEPARATING AND FOLDING APPARATUS FOR PRINTING PRESSES Sept. 14, 1965 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April 12, 1963 Q Q Q Q km p 1965 G. E. HANTSCHO 3,206,191

SEPARATING AND FOLDING APPARATUS FOR PRINTING PRESSES Filed April 12, 1963 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR. viss f. ,wrsc/m P 1955 I G. E. HANTSCHO 3,206,191

I SEPARATING AND FOLDING APPARATUS FOR PRINTING PRESSES Filed April 12, 1963 9 Sheets-Sheet 7 IN TOR. 520/2 4: 5. A44 rscwa Sept. 14, 1965 a. E. HANTSCHO 3,206,191

SEPARATING AND FOLDING APPARATUS FOR PRINTING PRESSES 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed April 12, 1963 mm Q INVENTOR. Q'fdigf f. A Aw-rsc/m p 1955 I G. E. HANTSCHO 3,206,191

SEPARATING AND FOLDING APPARATUS FOR PRINTING PRESSES Filed April 12, 1963 9 Sheets-Sheet 9' INVENTOR. 5219/?4; 5. A mv 75 can BY 1 W Z f/f ATT United States Patent 3,206,191 SEPARATING AND FOLDING APPARATUS FOR PRINTING PRESSES George E. Hantscho, Eastchester, N.Y., assignor to George Hantscho Company, Inc., a corporation of New York Filed Apr. 12, 1963, Ser. No. 272,621 Claims. (Cl. 270-85) This invention relates to printing presses and more specifically to novel and improved separating and folding apparatus for increasing the rate at which printed material such as signatures and .the like may be folded and stacked, thereby enabling the press to operate at materially increased speeds.

With the development of printing presses, the speed capabilities have been materially increased, and known folding and stacking mechanisms are unable to operate at speeds capable of handling printed material at the rate it can be discharged from the press. In many applications, it is therefore necessary to stack the printed material as it leaves the press and then transfer the stacks to separate folding and stacking devices.

This invention has as one of its objects the provision of a novel and improved folding and stacking mechanism that will greatly increase the rate at which printed material leaving a press can be folded and stacked without requiring intermediate steps of stacking the printed material and then transporting it to a folding mechanism.

Another object of the invention resides in the novel and improved method and apparatus for folding and stacking printed material.

Still another object of the invention resides in the provision of a novel and improved separating apparatus for moving printed material leaving a press through multiple paths to increase the rate at which the printed material may be processed.

The above and other objects of the invention will become more apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings forming part of this application.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic side elevational view of separating and folding apparatus in accordance with the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic illustration in perspective showing the driving means and gear trains for operation of the apparatus in accordance with the invention.

FIGURE 3 is a detailed side elevation view of separating apparatus in accordance with the invention.

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view of FIGURE 3 taken along the line 44 thereof.

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional View of FIGURE 3 taken along the line 5-5 thereof.

FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional view of FIGURE 3 taken along the line 66 thereof.

FIGURE 7 is a cross-sectional view of FIGURE 6 taken along the line 7-7 thereof.

FIGURE 8 is a side elevational view of the rocker shaft locking means in accordance with the invention.

FIGURE 9 is a side elevational view of the operating mechanism for setting the position of a switch element in accordance with the invention.

FIGURE 10 is a cross-sectional view of FIGURE 9 taken along the line 1t 10 thereof.

FIGURE 11 is a fragmentary view of the clutching means of FIGURE 4 when in the open position.

FIGURES 12 and 13 are side eleva-tional views of the two positions of the rocker or separator in accordance with the invention.

FIGURE 14 is a side elevational view showing an alternate path through which printed material may be moved.

Patented Sept. 14, 1965 "ice FIGURE 15 is a perspective view of a sheet of printed material upon entering the separator, and

FIGURE 16 is a perspective view showing the folded printed material as discharged from the illustrated folding apparatus.

The apparatus now to be described is particularly useful in combination with a printing press to receive printed matter such as signatures and the like directly from the press for the purpose of folding and stacking them. It will become apparent, however, that the apparatus is useful independently of the printing press by arranging means for feeding printed matter successively into the apparatus.

Broadly, the invention provides a novel and improved arrangement of switching or separating elements coordinated and synchronized with the rate at which individual pieces of printed material are fed to the machine for moving alternate pieces of the printed material through one path while moving the remaining pieces through a second path. By properly arranging and adjusting the elements, all of the printed matter may be moved through any selected path for folding and stacking or may be deflected to a third path and thereby bypass the folding and stacking mechanisms. While the invention as illus trated provides for two paths for folding and stacking the printed material, it is evident that a plurality of such paths may be employed utilizing the principles illustrated and described herein.

Referring now to the drawings and more specifically to FIGURE 1, the signatures S to be folded and stacked enter the apparatus between the feed rollers 10 and 11. The roller 10 has a plurality of grooves 12 in which a plurality of earns 13 ride in order to insure movement of the signatures along the surfaces 13 of the cams 13. Moving belts 14 carried by rollers 15, 16 and 17 guide the signatures .to the point of tangency of the belts 14 with the roller 18. The roller 15 has a plurality of grooves 15' which will be observed more clearly in FIGURES 4 and 5. These grooves receive the right hand apex of a triangularly shaped rocker arms 19 so that the tip end 19' will lie within either the groove 18' or the groove 15' to deflect the signatures upwardly along the top surface of the rocker arms or downwardly along the bottom surface of the rocker arms. Cooperating guide plates 20 and 21 are provided in spaced relationship to the upper and lower edges of the rocker arms to provide retaim'ng channels for the printed material. The rocker arms 19 are carried by a center shaft 22, and by oscillation of the shaft 22 (96 in FIG. 5) in synchronism with the movement of the pieces of printed material between the rollers 10 and 11, alternate pieces of material will be fed upwardly between the rocker arms and plate 26, while the intervening pieces of material will be fed downwardly between the rocker arms I9 and plate 21.

The upper path for the movement of printed material further includes a pair of driven rollers 23 and 24, guides 25 and 26 between which the signatures or pieces of printed material pass and a plurality of upper and lower belts 27 and 28. These belts are carried by a plurality of rollers 29 through 36 and 37 through 44 inclusive. As the signatures move past the rollers 34 and 42 and beneath the upper chopper mechanism 45, the signature is displaced downwardly by the chopper to fold it and at the same time feed it to the stacking mechanism 46.

The lower path includes a pair of driven rollers 47 and 48 to receive the downwardly deflected pieces of printed material and direct them between the guide plate 49 and the upper edge of deflecting plates 50. The plates 59 are carried by a shaft 51 (129 in FIG. 5) and can be moved from their position as shown in FIG. 1 to an upper position to deflect the printed material downwardly along the edge 52 and into engagement with the fan wheels 53, the latter depositing the printed material on belts 54 and 55 caried by rollers 56, 57, 58 and 59. When the deflector plates 50 are in a position shown in FIG. 1, the pieces of printed material pass between the plate 49 and the deflector plates 50 and thence between belts 60 and 61. The belt 60 is carried by rollers 62 through 67 while the belt 61 is carried by rollers 68 through 73. When each piece of printed material moves beneath the lower chopper mechanism 74, the mechanism is automatically lowered to fold the sheet and deposit it in the stacking means 75.

Enlarged diagrammatic views of separating means in accordance with the invention are shown in FIGURES 12, 13 and 14. In FIGURE 12, the rockers 19 are shown with the apices 19' in the lower position and in engagement with the grooves 15' of the roller 15 so that the signatures are deflected through the upper path. When the plates 19 are moved to the upper position the apices 19 are disposed in the grooves 18 of the roller 18 and, accordingly, the signatures are deflected downwardly. It will be observed that the deflector lates 50 are locked in position with the apices 50' disposed within grooves 48 of the roller 48 to deflect the signatures to the lower chopper as previously described. FIGURE 14 shows the position of the several control elements to direct all the printed material to the fan wheels.

By the utilization of the dual paths for folding and stacking signatures, the speed of the signatures in each path and after leaving the rollers 15 and 18 may be reduced to about one half the press speed and thus the choppers 45 and 74 and stacking means 46 and 75 can also be operated at the reduced speed. With this arrange ment, the press can be operated at twice the maximum speed of operation of the choppers without the need for stacking ignatures as they emerge from the press and then manually transporting the signatures to individual chopping and stacking equipment.

Reference is now made to FIGURES 2 through 11 illustrating the actual machine embodying the mode of operation illustrated and described in connection with FIGURES 1, 12 and 14. More specifically, the apparatus in accordance with the invention is carried by a pair of side frame members 80 and 81 as will be observed in FIGURE 6, and the several rollers and other elements for the attainment of the objectives of the invention are carried by these frame members. The feed roller having a plurality of peripheral grooves 12 is journaled in the frame members 80 and 81 with the roller shaft journaled in the frame member 01 extending outwardly from the frame and carrying a principal drive sprocket 82 driven from a main drive motor and a pair of spur gears 83 and 84. The cams 13 are carried by a transverse shaft 85 with the shaft being fixed in position so that the tip ends 13' of the cams 1-3 ride within the grooves 12 of the roller 10. The plurality of belts 14 are interposed between the cams 13 and carried by spaced pulleys on shafts 15, 16 and 17 as will be observed more clearly in FIGURE 5. The shaft 17 carrying spaced pulleys 86 is journaled in the side frame members 80 and 81, and is driven by the gear 84 through the intervening gears 87, 88 and 89 as will be observed more clearly in the diagrammatic illustration of FIGURE 2. The idler shaft carries pulleys 90 and is journaled in a pair of levers 91, the latter being carried by the ends of the shaft 17. Spring means 92 on the lefthand end of the levers 91, as viewed for instance in FIGURE 5, urge the outer ends of the levers 91 upwardly to move the belts into pressure contact with the cooperating roller 18. The intervening shaft 16 carrying belt pulleys 93 is supported by a pair of levers 94 which are journaled to the ends of the shaft 15, and the position of shaft 16 and the associated pulleys maintain the proper tension on the belts 14. The roller 18 which cooperates with the belts 14 is also journaled to the frame members 80 and 81 with one end of the roller shaft extending through the frame member 81 and carrying a spur gear 95 meshing with the idler gear 87 to provide a positive drive for the roller 18.

The rocker arms 19 as viewed in FIGURE 5 are carried on the rocker shaft 96 journalcd in the frame members 80 and 81. The end of the rocker arm shaft 96 extending through the frame member 80 has an opening 97 extending therethrough for cooperation with a pin 98 (FIGURE 8), the latter being slidably carried within the block 99. When the pin is inserted in the block 99, it engages the opening 97 in the shaft 96 to lock the rocker arms in place so that all signatures will travel through the lower path as illustrated for instance in FIGURE 13. In the normal operation, the pin 98 is removed and the shaft 96 is oscillated by a gear 100 meshing with the driven gear 83. Gear 100 floats on the stub shaft 101, and has an internal earn 102 for receiving a cam follower 103 carried on the upper end of the rocker arm 104 (see FIG. 7). The lower end of the rocker arm 104 is clutched to the shaft 96 so that as the gear 100 is rotated, the arm 104 and the shaft 96 will oscillate to shift the rockers 19 between the upper and lower positions as described in connection with FIGURES 1, 12 and 13. More specifically, the lower end of the rocker arm 104 is connected to the shaft 96 by means of a clutching assembly 105 slidably carried on the outer end of the rocker shaft 96. The clutching assembly includes a key 106 carried in an elongated slot 107 in the end of the rocker shaft, which fixes the clutch relative to the shaft. The clutch further includes a second key 108 which engages a keyway 109 formed in the hub 104' of the arm 104. A lever 110 is pivoted at 111 to the clutch 105 and is pivotally secured at 112 to an arm 113 carried by the frame member 81. By movement of the arm 110, the clutch 105 can be engaged or disengaged as required. When the clutch is disengaged, the locking pin 98 may be inserted to fix the rocker arms 19 in position. When it is desired to operate the rocker arm in accordance with the invention, the locking pin 98 is removed, and the clutch is engaged as shown in FIGURE 4.

The upper and lower plates 20 and 21, cooperating with the rocker arm to form the two divergent paths for the travel of the printed pieces of material, are shown more clearly in FIGURES 4 and 5. The plate 20 has a plurality of outwardly extending tabs 20' for engagement with the peripheral recesses 18 in the roller 18 and 23' in the roller 23. The plate is supported by a pair of rods 114 carried by the side frames 80 and 81. The lower plate 21 is also provided with tabs 21' which enter the recesses 15' in the roller 15 and 48 in the roller 48. This plate is substantially identical to the plate 20, and it is carried by rods 115 secured to the side frames 80 and 81. The roller '23 is journaled in a pair of levers 116 with one of the levers being pivotally secured to the shaft 101 and the other of said levers being pivoted in a corresponding manner to the side frame member 80. The shaft of the roller 23 extends through an opening 117 in the frame 81 which is materially larger than the shaft to permit some degree of motion, permitting the roller 23 to be urged downwardly against the roller 24. The outer end of the shaft carries a gear 118 which is driven from the gear 84 through the floating gear 119. The lower roller 24 is also journaled in the frame members 80 and 81, and it is driven synchronously with the roller 23 through spur gears 120 and 121, the latter meshing with the gear 119. The drive for this roller, which will be observed in FIG. 2, was omitted from FIGS. 5 and 6 for purposes of clarity. The levers 116 carrying the cooperating upper roller'23 are urged downwardly against the roller 24 by spring assemblies 122.

The drive rollers 47 and 48 of the lower path as shown in FIGS. 1 and 13 are supported and driven in substantially the same manner as that described in connection with rollers 23 and 24 (see FIG. 5). In this case, the

lower roller 48 is carried by pivoted levers 123 on each end thereof with spring loaded members 124 urging the lower roller 48 upwardly against the upper roller 47. These rollers are driven by spur gears 125 and 126 meshing with the spur gear 120 as illustrated in FIG. 2.

Returning again to the upper path as shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 12, the lower guides 26 are carried by a shaft 127 fixed to the frame members 80 and 81, and the upper guide plate 25 is carried by rods 128 in the same manner as described in connection with the guide plates 20 and 21. The lower path (FIGS. 1, 5 and 13) includes the deflectors 50 which are carried on a common shaft 129 journaled in the frame members 80 and 81. The shaft 129 extends through the frame member 80 and carries an arm 130 as will be viewed more clearly in FIGS. 9 and 10. The arm is fixed to the shaft 129 and has a slotted opening 131 through which a bolt 132 extends. The bolt is secured in the frame member 80, and the nut 132' can be tightened to secure the arm 130 in either the full line position shown in FIG. 9 or the dotted line position. When the arm 130 is in the full line position shown in FIG. 9, the pieces of printed material are guided between the deflector 50 and the plate 49 so that the pieces of printed material being deflected to the lower path as shown in FIG. 13 will be fed directly to the lower folding and stacking mechanism as previously described. When the arm is in the dotted position shown in FIG. 9, the deflector 50 is tilted counterclockwise about the shaft 129 so that printed matter being deflected to the lower path will be moved downwardly into engagement with the fan wheels 53 and thence onto the belts 54 and 55. This action is shown more clearly in FIG. 14 of the drawings. In the event that all of the printed material is to be deflected downwardly to the fan wheels, the rocker arm 19, would, of course, be locked in its counterclockwise position by the locking mechanism shown in FIG. 8 after the clutch has been disengaged.

Power to the belts 27 and 23 of the upper folding and stacking mechanism is obtained by way of a first gear train including a spur gear 133 on the shaft of roller 29, spur gears 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 14% and 141, the latter meshing with the driven gear 125 as previously described. The lower roller 37 is driven by the spur gear 142, carried on the shaft of the roller 37, which meshes with an idler gear 143, the latter being mechanically coupled to the idler gear 135 forming part of the drive train for the roller 129. The roller 62, which drives the belt 69 of the lower folding and stacking mechanism, is driven by the spur gear 137 secured to the roller shaft. This spur gear forms part of the power train to the roller 29. The lower roller 68, which drives the belt 61 of the lower folding and stacking mechanism, is driven by the spur gear 138 which is secured to the shaft of the roller 60 and again forms part of the power train driving the roller 29.

The fan wheels 53 may, of course, be driven in any suitable manner, as, for instance, by means of the sprocket 144 carried on the shaft 17, a chain 145 coupling the sprocket 144 to sprocket 146 carried by shaft 147. A second sprocket 148 on the shaft 147 is coupled by a chain 149 to sprocket 150 on the shaft 151 carrying the fan wheels. The belts 54 and 55, which receive the printed material, may be driven in any suitable manner provided that the speed is fast enough to accept the material being deposited thereon by the fan wheels 53. It is therefore not necessary that the speeds of the belts 54 and 55 be precisely synchronized with the operation of the apparatus as previously described.

The sheets of printed material fed to the separating mechanism in accordance with the invention are in the form of signatures such as shown, for instance, in FIG. 15, and after these signatures are fed to the upper and lower folding mechanisms, they are folded in the manner shown generally in FIG. 16 and then stacked in the customary manner.

From the foregoing, it will be observed that the apparatus in accordance with the invention provides a novel, versatile and useful apparatus particularly adaptable for operation in direct connection with printing equipment in order to enable the attainment of higher printing speeds by reason of the fact that the completed pieces of printed material can be automatically accepted and processed through two or more sets of folding and stacking devices. With the two separate paths as shown in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the speed at which the printed material can be handled is increased by It is also possible to further divide the paths and thereby further increase the speed at which the printed material can be processed. If it is desired to merely stack the printed material without the intermediate step of folding, the apparatus may be readily adjusted to guide the material onto the belts 54 and 55 for transportation from the printing apparatus.

While only one form of the invention has been illustrated and described, it is apparent that alterations, changes and modifications, may be made without departing from the true scope and spirit thereof as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Fath switching means for sheets of material comprising a pair of cooperating rotary elements having aligned annular grooves, said rotary elements receiving and feeding sheets of material therebetween, a rocker assembly having a plurality of triangularly shaped members with the leading apex of each member being movable into said grooves, guiding means positioned in spaced relationship with the edges of said triangular members adjoining said apexes to form upper and lower paths and means for actuating said rocker assembly alternately in clockwise and counterclockwise directions to move said apexes first into the grooves of one rotating element for directing a sheet of material into one path and then into the grooves of the other rotating element for movement of another sheet of material into the other path, trailing apexes on said triangular members and a pair of grooved drive rollers adjoining each set of trailing apexes with each trailing apex engaging a groove in one of the last said rollers and remaining in such engagement in all positions of said rocker assembly.

2. Path switching means according to claim 1 wherein the plane defined by the axes of one pair of cooperating grooved material feeding rollers adjoining one set of trailing apexes is ofiset from the plane defined by a second pair of cooperating grooved material feeding rollers adjoining the other trailing apexes of said triangular members.

3. Patch switch means according to claim 1 wherein one of said grooved rotary elements comprises a roller and the other of said elements comprises a plurality of spaced belts each carried by at least two pulleys.

4. Signature handling apparatus comprising a first pair of cooperating rollers in pressure engagement one with the other for the receipt and transport of signatures from a printing press, the signatures passing between said rollers, one of said rollers having a plurality of spaced peripheral grooves, a plurality of cams each being of generally triangular configuration with an elongated apex, means pivotally mounting said cams adjoining said grooved roller with said elongated apexes riding within the grooves of the last said roller, a plurality of laterally spaced flexible conveyor means extending beneath said cams and in spaced relationship thereto, said flexible conveyor means each being carried by at least two rollers, a grooved drive roller in pressure engagement with said conveyor means, a plurality of rocker arms of generally triangular configuration and having, upper and lower guiding surfaces said rocker arms being pivotally supported for angular movement and having an elongated apex movable alternately into engagement with the grooves of the last said drive roller and the spaces between said conveyor means, guide plates positioned in spaced relationship to the upper and lower surfaces of said rocker arm to form upper and lower paths for movement of said sig natures, each of said rocker arms further having upper and lower trailing apexes, a pair of grooved driven rollers in pressure relationship adjoining the upper trailing apeXes of said rocker arms with said apexes riding in the grooves of one of said rollers, tabs on the upper guide plate extending in the grooves on the other of the last said rollers, guiding means associated with the last said pressure roll- .ers for receiving signatures directed between the last said pressure rollers, first signature folding and stacking means, conveyor means for receiving signatures passing between the last said pressure rollers and transporting them to said folding and stacking means, a pair of grooved pressure rollers adjoining the lower trailing apexes of said rocker arms for receipt and transport of signatures passing between the lower guide surfaces of said rocker arms and said cooperating guide plate, a second plurality of rocker arms having leading apexes movable selectively into the grooves of the last said pressure rollers, the last said rocker arms each having a curved lower guiding surface and a substantially linear upper guiding surface, a guide plate spaced from the upper guiding surfaces of said second rocker arms, second signature folding and stacking means, conveyor means adjoining the trailing edge or" said second rocker arms for the receipt of signatures passing between the upper guiding surfaces of said second rocker arms and said associated guide plate and transporting said signatures to said second folding and stacking means, and means for receiving and transporting signatures directed beneath the lower guiding surfaces of said second rocker arms when the latter are moved to bring said lower guiding surface in line with the nip between the associated pressure rollers.

5. Signature handling apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the first said cams are provided with curved guiding surfaces extending from the leasing apexes to trailing apexes and wherein said first rocker arms each have a leading apex offset from the bisector of the angle defined by the upper and lower guiding surfaces and one set of trailing apexes extending beyond the other set of trailing apexes.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 277,548 5/83 Crowell V 27016 471,403 3/92 Southgate 270l6 2,563,492 8/51 Turrall et al 27164 FOREIGN PATENTS 859,687 12/52 Germany. 711,840 7/54 Great Britain. 804,875 11/58 Great Britain.

EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner. 

1. PATH SWITCHING MEANS FOR SHEETSS OF MATERIAL COMPRISING A PAIR OF COOPERATING ROTARY ELEMENTS HAVING ALIGNED ANNULAR GROOVES, SAID ROTARY ELEMENTS RECEIVING AND FEEDING SHEETS OF MATERIAL THEREBETWEEN, A ROCKER ASSEMBLY HAVING A PLRUALITY OF TRIANGULARLY SHAPED MEMBERS WITH THE LEADING APEX OF EACH MEMBER BEING MOVABLE INTO SAID GROOVES, GUIDING MEANS POSITIONED IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP WITH THE EDGES OF SAID TRIANGULAR MEMBERS ADJOINING SAID APEXES TO FORM UPPER AND LOWER PATHS AND MEANS FOR ACTUATING SAID ROCKER ASSEMBLY ALTERNATELY IN CLOCKWISE AND COUNTERCLOCKWISE DIRECTIONS TO MOVE SAID APPEXES FIRST INTO THE GROOVES OF ONE ROTATING ELEMENT FOR DIRECTING A SHEET OF MATERIAL INTO ONE PATH AND THEN INOT THE GROOVES OF THE OTHER ROTATING ELEMENT FOR MOVEMENT OF ANOTHER SHEET OF MATERIAL INTO THE OTHER PATH, TRAILING APEXES ON SAID TRIANGULAR MEMBERS AND A PAIR OF GROOVES DRIVE ROLLERS ADJOINING EACH SET OF TRAILING APEXES WITH EACH TRAILING APEX ENGAGINGA GROOVE IN ONE OF THE LAST SAID ROLLERS AND REMAINING IN SUCH ENGAGEMENT IN ALL POSITIONS OF SAID ROCKER ASSEMBLY. 